


Shyan Ficlets

by 7_Magpies



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment RPF
Genre: American Sign Language, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, Established Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Humor, I PROMISE IT MAKES SENSE, M/M, Mistletoe, Sexy humor, Song: Make You Mine (Public), Teacher AU, Teacher!Shane Madej, Touch-Starved, almost, bc a girl can dream ok, married, post quarantine, touch starved shane
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:54:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26186755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/7_Magpies/pseuds/7_Magpies
Summary: Super short ficlets based on a variety of prompts/ideasChapter 1: Touch-Starved Shane post-quarantine (G)Chapter 2: Who's On Bottom? (M)Chapter 3: Teacher!Shane (T)Chapter 4: Hard of Hearing AU (G)Chapter 5: O Christmas Tree (T)
Relationships: Ryan Bergara & Shane Madej, Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 40
Kudos: 185





	1. Touch-Starved

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a long time since Shane's been touched, thanks to the world more or less self destructing. Ryan's there to help, though.

They’d never been very touchy friends. It just hadn’t really happened. But it had been a long time. 

Months of sitting at home alone, the world at a stand-still. It had been a long time. 

So the first time they got to be at the studio after quarantine, Shane’s face lit up when he saw Ryan. 

Sure, they’d seen each other and talked to each other nearly every day, but it was different. Seeing him in person, no lag, no fuzzy audio, just  _ Ryan _ …

He pulled him into a strong hug. Ryan seemed surprised at first, but he gave into it easily and there they were, hugging each other in the middle of the office. Ryan’s face was tucked into Shane’s chest, and his hair was brushing against Shane’s chin, and his arms around Shane’s body were warm and strong and - “I missed you, man.”

“Missed you too,” he said, voice somewhat muffled against Shane’s button-up. 

After a few moments they pulled apart, and Shane was nervous, nervous Ryan would laugh it off, that he would pretend it didn’t happen. 

Instead, throughout the day, Ryan kept brushing into him. Just a bump of elbows here, a tap of knees there, a hand on his shoulder or on his forearm. 

Shane tried to remember if they had touched this much before, but he didn’t know. He hadn’t noticed if they had. Didn’t feel the electric shock at every contact, however mild. 

It continued for a few days. Casual touches that made Shane’s brain short circuit for a second. Friday, Ryan asked if he wanted to come over, and he didn’t see any reason to say no, not when Ryan was looking at him with those damned puppy-dog eyes that he was far too good at for a full grown man. 

So there he was, standing outside Ryan’s apartment that evening, feeling nervous despite the dozens of times he’d been there before. Ryan let him in and he sat on the couch. Maybe closer to Ryan than he would have Before. But Ryan made no move away. In fact, he seemed to almost  _ lean in. _ Shane hadn’t exactly been expecting that. He was trying to tell if Ryan was leaning in or if he was imagining it when he realized Ryan had been talking. 

“Wait. Sorry. What?” 

Ryan laughed. “I was asking if you’re alright. You’re not looking too good.” 

“I… I just…” he stumbled over his words for a moment. “I guess I just… I’ve not really touched anyone in so long. Since, you know, before…” he trailed off, making a vague hand gesture. 

“Me too, big guy.” And then Ryan put a hand on Shane’s arm and Shane couldn’t fight the shiver that rolled through his shoulders. 

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

Shane ran a hand through his hair, feeling embarrassed at being so open like this. “Fine. You know? Glad to be here. Glad to be here with you.” He bit his lip, afraid he’d crossed a line, but Ryan just smiled that wide smile that made his stomach tie itself in knots. 

“I’m glad you’re here,” he whispered. And then he put his hand on Shane’s cheek, running his thumb over his cheekbone. Shane knee he wasn’t imagining this. He wondered if Ryan felt the same electricity in his hand where they were touching. Wondered if Ryan had the same knots in his stomach. The same catch in his lungs. 

Shane leaned closer, stopping just short of Ryan’s lips, when he panicked for a second. Afraid he’d misinterpreted, that Ryan didn’t want this. 

But then Ryan met him, pressed their lips together so softly that Shane fucking  _ melted.  _ It was short, barely a peck. But after so long without being touched like this, the gentleness was enough to make him see stars. 

“Ryan…”

“I know.” 


	2. Who's on Bottom?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, funny story here, there was a debate over which of them would be on bottom and, since I'm a very serious adult individual, this situation came to mind.
> 
> So yeah, humor and vague sexiness because that's basically my MO

It had been a confusing day to say the least. 

Ryan wasn’t sure he could say how he’d gotten in this situation.

The “situation” being sitting in Shane’s lap kissing him senseless with the other man’s hands under his shirt and tongue in his mouth. 

It had started like any other time he showed up unannounced at Shane’s and they watched a movie. Somehow, sometime, one thing had led to another, and -

“ _ Shit, _ Shane,” he gasped when Shane squeezed his hips and it was enough there were definitely going to be bruises the next day. He hoped there would be bruises. Proof that this had happened. That he wasn’t dreaming it. 

He pulled back and tugged off his t-shirt, Shane doing the same, and they went right back to the bruising kisses after the clothing was thrown in the floor. “Bedroom?”

Shane nodded and they scrambled towards the bedroom, not pulling away from each other as they stumbled down the hall, knocking into walls and doorframes on their way. They reached the bedroom and Ryan fell backwards on the bed, tugging at his belt and jeans. “Need you in me…” he panted.

Shane stopped, looking confused. “I thought  _ you _ were gonna be in  _ me _ .”

“What? No. You’re bigger.”

“So?”

“I dunno, that’s, like, the rule, right?”

Shane barked a laugh. “Well  _ one  _ of us has to be on bottom,” he pointed out, wriggling out of his own jeans as he spoke and then he pressed himself on top of Ryan and pressed his lips to Ryan’s ear. “Let’s settle this like adults,” he practically growled, and Ryan felt the air leave his body in a  _ whoosh _ . 

“Yeah?” he squeaked out.

“Paper rock scissors.”

It was the most ridiculous phrase Ryan could have imagined coming out of his mouth, and he couldn’t help the laugh he gave. “Wait, what?”

“Loser’s on top. We can trade next time.”

“This is ridiculous and stupid but I like the sound of ‘next time.’” They sat up, both trying to keep the laughter down. 

“Paper, rock, scissors, shoot.” 

They tied with paper. 

“Okay, let’s try again,” Shane laughed. 

Ryan won with rock. “Yes,” he cried, pumping his fist. 

Shane groaned. “Two out of three.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

Shane won with paper.

“Tie breaker,” Shane said, wriggling his eyebrows. 

“You’re going down, big guy.”

“That’s the plan.”

Shane won with rock. 

“You cheated! You must have!” 

“How the hell does someone cheat at rock paper scissors? Now are you gonna keep sitting there or are you gonna do something else with those scissors?”

Ryan rolled his eyes and pulled Shane down into another kiss. “Fine. But you owe me.”


	3. History with Mr. Madej

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane is a history teacher at a high school. His students know he's married. They also know he has a bone to pick with the host of the Buzzfeed show "Unsolved."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've seen this AU around and thought it would be a lot of fun to write for these guys. I'm usually pretty hesitant on original characters, but I could not figure out how to write this story without doing it from a student's perspective. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy! This one is rated T for language.

The first day at a new high school always sucks. This year, though, Hanna thinks it may not be as bad as her past first days. 

This is because her first class, history, looks like it might just be interesting enough to start the day out without wanting to sleep the entire time. She makes this decision when she walks through the door and is greeted by a small blue plush wearing a khaki coat and matching hat sitting on the teacher’s desk. Next to it is a giant bowl with bags of Jelly Belly jelly beans. 

Her interest is piqued. 

She finds a seat in the back corner and watches the rest of the class file in and react to the sight. 

One girl walks in and sits next to her, and Hanna recognizes her shirt. 

“Hey, is that ‘Unsolved’ merch?”

The girl grins widely. “Yup! You a fan?”

“You know it!” 

She and the girl (Beth, she learns) chat for the last few minutes before the teacher walks in. 

He’s tall with wild brown hair and a little bit of stubble. He runs in just before the bell rings holding a cup of coffee. “Good morning, class! I’m Mr. Madej. Welcome to history. Before we get started, does anyone have anything against jelly beans?”

Hanna and Beth share confused glances, and the class stays quiet.

“Excellent!” He walks over to his desk and picks up a stack of papers and begins passing them out. “Here’s the syllabus, by the way. We will try to stick to it, but no promises, the higher-ups just tell me I need to make it so I’m checking the box. You can all go ahead and forge your mom or dad’s signature and pass it back at the end of class.” 

He looks up at the almost horrified expressions on the students’ faces. “Oh, come on, don’t tell me none of you have forged a signature before!”

The class continues in similarly chaotic fashion, and Hanna finds herself barking stunned laughs at Mr. Madej’s antics, such as accidentally yelling “fuck!” when he drops a marker (followed shortly by him telling them all that they “didn’t hear anything and won’t tell the faculty anything”). She learns the plush’s name is the Professor, and anyone that guesses his real name gets a bag of jelly beans (not that earning jelly beans is difficult in general). 

After class, Beth gets a bag of jelly beans because Mr. Madej likes her t-shirt, and she shares them with Hanna.

\-----

The days pass much the same as the first, and Hanna learns a few things. One of these things is that Mr. Madej is married to a man that, despite loving very dearly, he thinks is an idiot. He speaks fondly about him, never giving his husband’s name, when he answers a question about “why jelly beans?” (because they’re his husband’s favorites, and he learned early on that positive reinforcement is very helpful). A few days later, when he overhears some students talking about ghosts, he says he doesn’t believe in them but his husband does (even though Mr. Madej is entirely exasperated when he tells them about their continuous discussions on the subject, the corner of his lips quirk up in a fond smile that none of the class misses).

One of the best lessons, though, is when they learn about Roanoke colony. 

“As I’m sure you all know, the Roanoke colony disappeared with only one trace: the word ‘croatoan’ carved on a tree. There are a number of theories pertaining to what happened to them.”

“Zombies,” says a guy from the front row.

Mr. Madej stops in his tracks and shoots him a  _ look. _ “It. Wasn’t. Zombies.” 

“Are you sure though?” asks another kid.

Beth and Hanna look at each other and snicker as Mr. Madej pinches the bridge of his nose under his glasses. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“What if it was aliens?” Beth asks, and Hanna has to bite her lip to keep from cracking up.

Mr. Madej looks like he’s considering throwing the marker he’s holding. “If anyone says ‘aliens’ or ‘zombies’ on this test, you’re losing five points!” 

\-----

They get their tests back several days later, and Beth shows Hanna her grade. “He took five points off because I mentioned zombies in the essay portion, but then he gave me five bonus points for mentioning Virginia Dare even though we didn’t go over her in class,” she points out. 

Hanna smiles. “You didn’t think he’d  _ actually  _ make you suffer for making such a good joke, did you?”

“Guess not. Wonder what his husband has to say about zombies, since he believes in ghosts,” Beth asks with a conspiratory smile.

“Who said ‘zombies’?” Mr. Madej asked from the front of the classroom. 

Beth laughs and raises her hand. “I was just wondering what your husband’s thoughts on zombies are.”

“He claims he doesn’t believe in them, but he does bring them up whenever I talk to him about my Roanoke lesson plans,” Mr. Madej says with an eye roll. “Let’s just say I didn’t marry him for his mind,” he adds with a wink.

“So your husband likes ‘Unsolved’?” Hanna asks.

“You could say that,” Mr. Madej answers with a strange smile, and before Hanna can figure out what that means, the bell rings.

She and Beth talk at lunch about it. “Do you think he knows Ryan from ‘Unsolved’?” Beth asks. “He used to work at Buzzfeed.” 

“He did?” 

“Yeah, he was an intern there, I saw his name on some video credits. I doubt ‘Madej’ is a common last name,” she points out, and Hanna nods. 

“Maybe he and his husband both know Ryan?”

Beth shrugs. “Who knows. You gonna eat the red jelly beans?”

\-----

A few weeks later, they are learning about Amelia Earhart, and Hanna is certain that Mr. Madej is going to walk out of the classroom when she mentions underwater Area 51. 

“That’s not a real thing and you all know it!” he insists from the whiteboard. “I blame Ryan for this,” he murmurs.

“You watch ‘Unsolved’?” someone asks from in front of her.

Shane smiles. “I’ve seen enough to know that that man is an idiot,” he answers, causing some people to laugh. “I mean, crabs ate Amelia Earhart? Really?” He shakes his head.

“Didn’t you work at Buzzfeed?” Beth asks.

“Yeah, that’s actually where I met my husband,” he says with a small smile. If Hanna didn’t know any better, she’d think he blushed a little. “He works there.”

“Did you ever meet Ryan?” one boy asks.

Mr. Madej seems to think for a while before answering. “Yeah, I knew him,” he finally answers before continuing with the lesson plan, adding his warning about losing points if “Area 51” shows up on any test papers.

\-----

The next day when they walk in to class early to ask Mr. Madej for help on an assignment, they’re shocked to see him and Ryan Bergara laughing together. Hanna stops short, causing Beth to run into her back.

“Dude, what the -  _ holy _ -” Beth stops herself before she can swear. “Mr… Mr. Madej?”

He and Ryan turn and smile. “Good morning, girls,” Shane says with a grin. 

“You didn’t tell us you still talk to him?” Hanna says accusingly, and it comes out as a question without her permission.

Ryan raises an eyebrow and looks at their teacher. “Shane? Did you not tell your students you still talk to me?” His lips are quirked in a teasing grin, and Mr. Madej looks like he wants to be anywhere else.

“Um… I mean… I never said I  _ don’t… _ ” he finally says, looking down at his desk. 

Ryan laughs, smiling widely, and he runs his hand over his face. With the movement, Hanna notices a ring on his left hand. Then she looks at Mr. Madej’s and sees a very similar one there. “Wait a minute,” she says, looking between their hands.

“Meet my husband,” he says, reaching over to take Ryan’s hand. Ryan takes it and smiles up at him. 

“I can’t believe you’re ashamed of me!” he accuses, causing Mr. Madej to blush. 

“I’m not, I just knew I’d get pestered with questions if I ever mentioned it. Now, don’t you have to get to work? Those squeaky shoes aren’t going to hear themselves!”

Ryan rolls his eyes and looks at Hanna and Beth. “Is he nicer to you guys? He didn’t even thank me for bringing him coffee!” 

Hanna and Beth look at each other incredulously, still trying to comprehend everything they’re seeing.

Ryan just laughs again and stands on his toes, pressing a quick kiss to Mr. Madej’s lips. “See you tonight, honey.”

“Love you,” their teacher calls after him as he walks out. 

Hanna and Beth look between each other and after Ryan as he leaves.

“So… you’re married to Ryan Bergara?” Hanna asks slowly.

“Yeah.”

“For how long?” Beth picks up the line of questioning.

“Couple years. We met at Buzzfeed. Were friends for a while, even after I left to become a teacher. We started dating about three years ago, and have been married for two.”

Hanna looks at his face as he talks and thinks over every time he ever mentioned his husband in class. “You really love him.” It’s not a question. It’s a statement of fact. 

He blushes and rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah. I really do. Now, what can I do for you two?”

Hanna and Beth have to think about why they showed up early in the first place.

\-----

That night when Shane gets home, Ryan is already there. “Hey, honey, I came home early,” he says from the kitchen.

“You’re cooking?”

“Yup! Happy anniversary. Sorry I revealed my identity to those students this morning.”

Shane smiles and walks up behind him at the counter, wrapping his long arms around Ryan’s waist. “Don’t worry about it,” he says, kissing the top of Ryan’s head and smiling at how his husband leans back into his touch.

“In that case, go away, can’t focus with you here like that,” he says, turning his head to look at Shane.

Shane laughs and steps back. “Okay, I’ll go to the bedroom then…” he says with a wink as he walks out, unbuttoning his shirt.

Ryan swears and turns off the stove. “Dinner can wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! I have no idea if/when I'll add another chapter, or what that chapter would look like if it ever happens, so we'll all find out together!
> 
> Yes, I've had a teacher tell us to forge our parent's signature. He was my favorite teacher I've ever had, he was super cool, and I feel like Shane would be a cool teacher, too.


	4. Make You Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Ryan loses his hearing, he's a little down. Shane decides to make him smile, and make a confession while he's at it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, friends! First of all, I am not personally HOH. I checked my phrasings of the different ASL phrases used with a friend studying sign language in college. This is very much out of a place of respect both for the boys and for the hearing impaired community, so if you are hard of hearing and you see something that seems problematic, please know it was not intentional and alert me to the issue and I'll do whatever I can to fix it! 
> 
> Song lyrics are "Make You Mine" by Public (if you haven't listened to it you should, it's amazing and Will get stuck in your head)

_ I miss music _ , Ryan signed. His motions were still slow and somewhat jerky, but he was getting better. 

Shane nodded. “I’m sorry,” he said as he signed the phrase.

_ Nothing you can do. _ He picked back up the Sign Language book and went back to practicing more. Shane had an idea.

\-----

Later that afternoon, Shane came out of his room with a small Bluetooth speaker he had dug up from his room. It hadn’t been used in years, and needed a change of batteries, but he managed to get it working and paired to his phone without cursing too loudly.

He sat the speaker beside Ryan and placed Ryan’s hand on top of it.  _ What are you doing? _ Ryan asked, eyebrow raised. 

“You’ll see” Shane replied, putting Ryan’s hand back on the speaker and starting the music on his phone. He had turned the bass up on his phone’s equalizer, so Ryan could feel the beat through the speaker and skipped the song ahead on his phone to the chorus. Shane sang and signed the lyrics, and Ryan laughed for the first time in several days.

“Put your hand in mine,

You know that I want to be with you all the time.

You know that I won’t stop until I make you mine.

You know that I won’t stop until I make you mine.

Until I make you mine.”

Ryan put the speaker down and reached for Shane, pulling him into a tight hug.  _ Thank you, _ he signed.  _ I just miss your voice. _

_ Really? _

_ Don’t make me sign again. _

Shane smiled and knelt in front of where Ryan sat on the couch. He took Ryan’s hand and gently placed it on his voice box so when he sang, Ryan could feel the vibrations. 

“Put your hand in mine,

You know that I want to be with you all the time.

You know that I won’t stop until I make you mine.

You know that I won’t stop until I make you mine. 

Until I make you mine.” 

Ryan’s eyes were misty with tears and one of them started to fall down his cheek, even as he was smiling so much wider than Shane had seen him in the past few days.

Shane cupped his cheek, wiping the tear with his thumb. “I mean it,” he said slowly, letting Ryan read his lips.

Ryan furrowed his brow, looking down at Shane with a confused face.

_ I love you. I want to make you mine. _

Ryan’s jaw dropped for a moment. “Really?” he said in a voice a little too loud and somewhat scratchy from lack of use.

It was the most beautiful thing Shane had heard since Ryan’s hearing went away.

“Yeah. If you let me,” he said and signed back.

Ryan slipped off the couch to kneel beside Shane and pulled him into a kiss. Shane was shocked back onto his heels, but responded to the kiss quickly, pulling Ryan close. They were a mess of limbs on the floor, but Shane couldn’t bring himself to care. When they pulled back, he realized the song was still playing.

“Oh, darlin’, darlin’, baby

You’re so very fine.

You know that I won’t stop until I make you mine.

Until I make you mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I've been trying to work ASL into a fic for a *while* and am trying to decide if I want to extend this ficlet into a full-fledged fic. 
> 
> If you enjoyed be sure to leave kudos, and comments are also greatly appreciated! <3 <3


	5. Our First Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan wants the first Christmas tree in his and Shane’s apartment to be perfect. It doesn’t exactly go to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! I wanted to do something somewhat festive, so here you go, have some humor and fluff!
> 
> I wrote it in about 30 minutes on my phone so, like, keep that in mind.

Ryan was an anxious person. It wasn’t exactly a secret. One couldn’t be shot to Internet stardom by way of panic attacks over flashlights without earning a reputation for being a little bit jumpy. 

Which meant that it should have surprised no one that he was stressing over the Christmas tree. He wanted to surprise Shane with it already set up and decorated when he got home from grocery shopping. He had bought the tree the day before and kept it in his car, and as soon as Shane left, he ran to get it. 

He knew Shane would be pretty easy to please. He was one of the most laid back people Ryan had ever met. That didn’t stop Ryan from wanting their first tree in their shared apartment to be perfect, though. 

It was, too. Except for one small problem. The problem, of course, being that  _ he  _ was too small. 

He was an average height man, dammit, but trees were way too tall and he couldn’t reach the top to put the star on it. He had searched the entire apartment and realized they did not own a stepladder (he mentally added it to his Christmas list — who knew when he’d need to reach things when his giant of a boyfriend wasn’t around), so he decided to roll a chair in to stand on.

He was being very careful, thank you very much, balancing himself so that the chair wouldn’t roll out from under him, when he heard a voice and felt something touch his leg. 

“Holy shit!” he called as the chair rolled from under him. He reached out but couldn’t grab anything. Then his fall was stopped earlier than he had anticipated. 

He opened his eyes to see Shane’s stupid smile looking down at him. His boyfriend had caught him bridal style like something out of a cheesy movie. 

“What the hell were you thinking standing in a rolling chair?”

Ryan gulped, suddenly sheepish under Shane’s smug expression (not to mention the reminder of how easily Shane could hold him). “I was being careful,” he muttered. “You can put me down now.”

Shane obliged and Ryan tried to regain his bearings with his feet on the ground. “It’s not my fault this tree is stupidly tall,” he said, pouting and not even ashamed of it. 

“When were you going to tell me you got a tree?”

“Uh… surprise.” He shrugged. “I was hoping to have it decorated by the time you got home.”

Shane smiled and picked up the grocery bags from where he had set them by the door. “Go put these up. I’ll finish with the stuff you couldn’t reach.”

Ryan smiled up at him and did as was asked. When he finished and went back to the living room, he saw that Shane had materialized a stepladder. “Where did that come from?”

“One of your little ghosts left it” Shane replied drily without looking away from his task. He was spreading the ornaments out a little from where they had gathered at the point where Ryan couldn’t reach any higher. 

“That doesn’t even make any sense.”

“No, it doesn’t, because ghosts aren’t real.”

Ryan sighed, rolling his eyes. “Seriously, Shane. I looked all over.”

“In the closet. Where you left it after hanging up the string lights around the window that you refused to let me help with.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Ryan felt himself blush slightly. “Oh. Well. I guess that might make sense.”

Shane smiled down at him. “Hand me the star, would you?”

Finished, Shane stepped down and moved the ladder back before standing beside Ryan, looking at their tree. “Thanks for trying to surprise me, Ry. That was really sweet of you.”

“Sorry it didn’t go to plan.” 

Shane rolled his eyes. “I don’t care what kind of tree we have.”

“I know. But I wanted it to be special for us.”

His boyfriend just put an arm over his shoulders, pulling him close. “I know. Thank you. I have a surprise for you.”

Before Ryan could say anything, Shane pulled something from his pocket and held it over his head. 

Ryan looked up at it and rolled his eyes. “Shane, that’s Rosemary.”

“I know. They don’t sell mistletoe at the grocery store. Just shut up and pretend.”

Laughing, Ryan stood on his toes and kissed Shane. “You’re so ridiculous.”

“You know you wouldn’t have me any other way,” Shane answered with a wink. 

Ryan rolled his eyes again, taking the Rosemary and dropping it before occupying Shane’s hands with other matters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Sorry this hasn’t been updated in so long, been busy with school and life and other assorted stressful activities. With the break coming up, I’m hoping to get back to writing somewhat regularly!!


End file.
